Hacking NetFlix

Roku Players Shipping in U.K.; New Channels include BBC iPlayer

Roku announced that Roku Players are now available in the U.K. and Ireland, along with new channels including the BBC iPlayer.

Roku currently features more than 40 channels of content in the U.K. and Ireland including on-­‐demand films and programmes from Netflix and Crackle (Crackle is currently not available in Ireland); live and on-­‐ demand sports from MLB.TV and Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation; music from Classical TV and TuneIn; photos and videos from Facebook and Flickr; news and entertainment from WSJ Live from the Wall Street Journal, FoxNews.com and others from around the world – plus casual games like Angry Birds. Roku expects to announce additional major content channels by the time its players ship to customers in the U.K and Ireland. 

Disney "In Discussions" about 28 Day DVD Rental Delay

Deadline.com reports that Disney CEO Bob Iger discussed the possibility of making Netflix & Redbox wait 28 days for DVDs in hopes of increasing DVD sales:

Iger says that he’s ”still not sure I understand” what Verizon and Redbox have planned for their just-announced streaming service. He added that Disney is ”in discussions” to change its DVD and Blu-ray release policy to wait 28 days before selling discs directly to discount rental services such as Redbox and Netflix. Up to now Disney didn’t think that a delay would have much impact on disc sales, but he says that “the industry has continued to suffer on the sell-through side.” Yet Iger sounded frustrated by another initiative to promote disc sales: giving  disc buyers the additional opportunity to stream movies to mobile devices. Disney has its own program, called Key Chest. Iger says, though, that ”we haven’t rolled out Key Chest as much as we hoped.” Meanwhile he’s “taking and wait-and-see” on joining other studios that support the UltraViolet streaming program. Iger says he’s “not sure it has proven to be as robust as we expected, or as consumer friendly as we had hoped.”

Netflix Not Responsible for Nickelodeon Ratings Drop

Hollywood Reporter: Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman said that Netflix wasn't responsible for the recent ratings drop.

Asked on Viacom's quarterly earnings conference call if Netflix was to blame for the viewership decline, which contributed to an advertising revenue decline in the final quarter of 2011, he said: "We don't think that the availability of the limited amount of Nick library content on Netflix…has had a significant impact."

Highlighting that the company gets data on streams, he said that the number of Netflix subscribers and Nickelodeon content streams were "pretty much the same" in the summer and the fall. "It certainly does not account for the ratings drop that we saw," Dauman said.

Netflix Might Get Access to Twilight Movies Because of Lionsgate Summit Purchase

Fool.com reports that since Lionsgate bought Summit Entertainment, Netflix & Redbox might have access to the Twilight movies.

There should be champagne corks popping in the headquarters of both Coinstar's Redbox and Netflix over the SummitsGate announcement.

Both movie-rental specialists have distribution deals with Lionsgate, see. The Redbox terms are unknown, but most likely include cheaper access to Lionsgate discs. For Netflix, the bubbly is even more in order: Through an indirect deal with Lionsgate via Epix, the company gets streaming access to a large portion of Lionsgate's content library.

Importantly, the streaming rights from Epix are exclusive. If I'm reading the contractual tea leaves right, the Twilight series is now available for Netflix to exploit.

Thanks to Brad for sending this in.

The Real Problem With The Anti-Piracy Bills

I think our "representatives" in Washington got the message with all of the outrage and protests behind SOPA today. Of all of the commentary, this quote really bugged me:

““Why is it that when Republicans and Democrats need to solve the budget and the deficit, there’s deadlock, but when Hollywood lobbyists pay them $94 million dollars to write legislation, people from both sides of the aisle line up to co-sponsor it?””

- Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian on CNBC.

Piracy wouldn't be a problem if the studios and record lables would make content available widely for a fair price, and stopped treating paying customers like theives by using DRM.

via Wil Wheaton.

Netflix Didn't Renew Membership in DECE (UltraViolet)

Greg Sandoval at CNet reports that Netflix hasn't renewed membership in DECE, the industry group behind UltraViolet.

Sources told CNET that the highest-ranking executive representing Netflix within Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), a group of more than 70 companies connected to the film industry, recently did not renew his membership. Current members include Hollywood studios, software and hardware makers, film distributors, and retailers.

While Netflix may maintain some low-level DECE presence in the future, the company in large part cut ties to DECE a while ago, the sources said. Netflix executives have rarely, if ever, participated in the group's planning meetings or conference calls since joining not long after DECE was formed three years ago, according to the sources.

Can UltraViolet really be a success without Netflix or Apple?

via Dave Zatz.

Reuters: Microsoft Web TV Subscription Service on Hold Because of Licensing Costs

Reuters is reporting that Microsoft's plans to create an online TV subscription service is on hold because of licensing costs.

The technology giant had been in intense talks with potential programming partners for over a year and was hoping to roll out the service in the next few months. But it pulled back after deciding that the licensing costs were too high for the business model Microsoft envisaged, according to these people.

"They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards but then said 'ooh ah, that's expensive,'" said one senior media executive who had been involved in the talks.

I'm disappointed because someone needs to shake up the cable guys, and Microsoft could really disrupt things.

DVD Rental Window Wait to Double to 56 Days for Warner Titles

Peter Kafka at AllThingsD reports that the DVD rental window, now 28 days, will double to 56 days for Warner titles at Netflix, Redbox, and Blockbuster. 

A new deal between Time Warner’s movie studio and Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster will double the “window” for new releases. That means the services will now have to wait 56 days after the discs first go on sale to offer them to their customers, instead of 28 days.

The move is part of Hollywood’s ongoing campaign to bolster flagging DVD sales, and sources tell me the new deal is supposed to be announced at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Warner Brothers executives have already talked publicly about extending the current window.

If I want to buy a DVD or Bluray I'm going to buy it, and if it's not worth buying I'll rent it. Waiting is just annoying and a 56 day delay not going to get me to buy a copy of the Hangover Part 2. 

Will a 56 day delay encourage you to buy more DVDs?

I'm wondering if a longer dealy will just encourage piracy for people that can't wait two more months for new releases.

Roku Previews MHL-Enabled HDMI Streaming Stick for Non-Smart TVs

Roku announced a new "Streaming Stick" device that plugs into a MHL-enabled HDMI port to turn them into a Smart TV. The Streaming Stick is a Roku box with WIFI, processor, and access to Roku's 400+ channels. There are only a few MHL-enabled TVs now, but more are expected at CES next week. Roku reports that only 11% of Smart TVs are actually connected to the Internet, and if Roku prices it about the same as the Samsung $80 wireless adapter this should be a no-brainer choice for most customers.

My biggest concern when I bought a Smart TV was how often is would be upgraded, and since this is Roku's business (instead of a feature) Roku updates their software monthly. The Roku Streaming Stick might be the smartest way to have a Smart TV. 

Roger Ebert on Why Theater Revenue is Hurting

Roger Ebert explains why movie revenue is dropping, and includes the usual suspects: no major releases, prices, streaming, theater experience, etc. 

The myth that small-town moviegoers don't like "art movies" is undercut by Netflix's viewing results; the third most popular movie on Dec. 28 on Netflix was "Certified Copy," by the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. You've heard of him? In fourth place--French director Alain Corneau's "Love Crime." In fifth, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"--but the subtitled Swedish version.

The message I get is that Americans love the movies as much as ever. It's the theaters that are losing their charm. Proof: theaters thrive that police their audiences, show a variety of titles and emphasize value-added features. The rest of the industry can't depend forever on blockbusters to bail it out.

I really hate being stuck behind someone that can't stop texting every two minutes...